Chicago Public Schools Adopts AI: A Roadmap for Ethical Innovation in Education
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CPS Releases Comprehensive AI Guidebook for 2024-2025 School Year
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Focus on privacy, security, and responsible use of generative AI tools
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Provide clear guidelines for students, educators, and administrators
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Approved AI tools will be listed in the Ed Tech catalog
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Planning professional development opportunities to support implementation
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is taking a bold step into the future of education with the release of a new AI guidebook. This comprehensive document outlines the district’s vision for integrating generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into classrooms and administrative processes while balancing innovation, ethical considerations, and student safety. Scheduled to be implemented in the 2024-2025 school year, the guidebook provides a clear roadmap for students, educators, administrators, and IT staff on how to responsibly utilize AI technologies within the CPS ecosystem.
Background and goals of AI adoption
CPS recognizes that GenAI tools offer unprecedented opportunities to enhance classroom interactions, personalize learning experiences, and foster innovation. The introduction of these technologies is expected to play a critical role in preparing students to adapt to the rapidly changing technological environment and be competitive in the future job market.
However, CPS is also aware of the potential challenges that these technologies can pose. Key concerns include privacy violations, data security, maintaining academic integrity, and bias in AI systems. The guidebook provides specific guidance to address these issues.
Key contents of the guidebook
1. Privacy and Security
All stakeholders should be careful not to enter personally identifiable information or confidential information into GenAI tools. This includes personal information of students, families, and staff, as well as proprietary information of CPS. The guidebook emphasizes that it is important to assume that any information shared in GenAI applications will be used to train models and may be made available in the public domain.
Additionally, all AI interactions must be traceable and accountable. This requires maintaining detailed records of when and how GenAI tools are used in educational and administrative contexts.
2. Instructions for Students
Students must use only CPS-approved GenAI tools and must have permission from their teacher to use AI in their assignments. This is to ensure that students learn how to use AI technology responsibly while maintaining educational integrity.
When using AI-generated content, you must clearly state that fact and specify how you used it. Failure to do so will be considered a violation of the Student Code of Conduct and will be handled on a case-by-case basis according to individual school policies.
The guidebook also includes suggestions for how students can use AI creatively and productively, such as using AI as a brainstorming partner or using AI to generate timelines and to-do lists for group projects.
3. Guidelines for Educators
Teachers should be models of ethical and responsible use of AI, by appropriately citing or disclosing their use of AI and ensuring that the content they create is appropriate for educational purposes.
The guidebook provides concrete examples of how teachers can integrate AI into their lessons. For example, elementary schools can use AI to create personalized math problems tailored to students’ unique needs and interests. Middle schools can use AI to conduct virtual experiments, and high schools can use AI to independently conduct in-depth research projects.
CPS will provide ongoing professional development opportunities for staff beginning in the summer of 2024 and continuing through the 2024-2025 school year. These include optional workshops, digital resources, and Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).
4. Instructions for Administrators
School administrators are responsible for ensuring that staff and students adhere to CPS’ GenAI guidelines. This includes conducting regular audits and reviews to ensure the use of approved tools and adherence to ethical standards.
Administrators should be prepared to respond quickly to issues or incidents related to the use of GenAI, including investigating the issue, assessing the impact, and taking appropriate action to mitigate negative consequences.
Additionally, we must ensure that our staff have the resources and training they need to use GenAI tools effectively and responsibly.
5. Guidelines for IT Services
AI software development and management should follow standard software engineering best practices, including considering security from the design stage, ensuring that there are no vulnerabilities, and evaluating through ongoing testing, patching, and certification measures.
AI software and related applications should be maintained in secure, private script repositories that can be version controlled. In addition, continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) should be implemented to automate testing, deployment, and monitoring, where possible.
Future plans and conclusions
CPS plans to continually refine the policy based on valuable insights and experiences gained as this guidebook is implemented during the 2024-2025 school year. The district aims to fully integrate GenAI by the 2025-2026 school year and is committed to maintaining open dialogue within the school community throughout this process.
This bold plan demonstrates that CPS is at the forefront of technological innovation while also emphasizing that student safety and ethical considerations are our top priorities.
This approach by Chicago Public Schools offers a balanced vision for education in the age of AI, one that demonstrates how to harness the transformative potential of technology while protecting students’ privacy and safety and upholding the fundamental values of education.
This guidebook is not simply a list of rules, but a vision of how AI technology can transform and enhance education, which will play a critical role in preparing students to live and work successfully in the technology-driven society of the future.
CPS’s efforts are expected to serve as a model for other school districts. A systematic and responsible approach to the educational use of AI technology will serve as an important reference case for future educational policymaking.
In conclusion, the Chicago Public Schools AI Guidebook is an important milestone toward the future of education. It is the result of efforts to find a balance between technological innovation and educational value, and it will serve as a roadmap for the future direction of education. It is expected that this pioneering effort by CPS will contribute to providing students with a better learning experience and developing the capacity to prepare for the future society.
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